Additional space at the jail would help expedite cases

The Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services, its employees and volunteers serve individuals sentenced to probation/parole. In Johnson County, staff provides community supervision to more than 1,000 adult individuals using a variety of treatment programs and monitoring methods to enhance success and promote public safety.

The sheriff’s department is a critical partner in our agency’s service delivery. Before the court can determine the sanctions to be imposed by those charged with indictable crimes or when those individuals granted probation/parole present risks that cannot be safely addressed under community supervision, they are often held in the county jail pending judicial review.

That is the long standing structure created by current Iowa Criminal Code. In our county, the practice of housing incarcerated individuals in Muscatine and Washington counties is problematic as staff has limited ability to meet with a probationer in order to address individual needs or hold educational programs.

In order to accomplish our agency’s mission, business at the courthouse has proven increasingly difficult due to increases in the numbers served and the more serious nature of crimes committed. Our personnel often wait multiple hours, in the courthouse due to docket back-log or lack of court-room space preventing them from accomplishing other important duties. Additional space would expedite cases and add security measures reflective of modern day’s concerns.

Delivering cost effective release options to those persons who may benefit from something short of a more expensive penal incarceration is our mission. Our staff is accustomed to working with individuals who have complex issues in all sorts of situations. We already use jail alternatives and diversion strategies for those individuals who pose less risk and recommend incarcerating those individuals who we feel pose the greatest community risk.

The citizens of Johnson County rely on its’ employees as well as partnering agencies, to keep them safe from the most dangerous persons. It is for these reasons; we support the Johnson County justice center bond issue.

Jerri Allen is the executive officer of the Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.

Current plan is the exact opposite of cost-effective

First of all, the overcrowded jail is not a given. If we get our incarceration rate under control, our current jail can be running well under its current capacity for another three decades.

If we do not bring our incarceration rate under control — a pretty safe assumption if we allow things to proceed as usual — then John Neff’s prediction is that within the next 20 years the new jail will be too small again.

But let’s say, for the sake of an argument, that we can build the justice center and get our incarceration rate under control at the same time. (There are serious reasons to think that these are almost mutually exclusive endeavors, but nevertheless.) For how long does the justice center need to operate in order for us to start getting a return on our investment?

Well, the only major cost savings that we are going to see if the justice center is built are the savings on the cost of transporting inmates to other counties. According to our sheriff, the latter come to around $200,000 a year.

$43.5 million / $200,000 = 217.5 years.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that almost any other rational proposal would be more cost effective than what’s on the table right now.

Aleksey Gurtovoy is a software engineer and a member of the Vote No on New Jail ballot issue committee.

Proposed justice center would be highly efficient

In November of 2005, Johnson County received a report from the Durrant Group that looked at this project and looked at four different locations:

• Site 1 was at the existing courthouse and gave a cost range of $61.2 million and $66.8 million and included the need for 16 new staff members.

• Site 2 was down near the current county Health and Human Services and Administration buildings and had an estimated cost of between $70.1 million and $76.5 million and 21 new staff positions.

• Sites 3 and 4 were green field sites along Highway 218 near Oak Crest Hill Road and Highway 218 near the Joint Emergency Communications Center. Those sites came in at estimated costs of between $61.9 million and $67.7 million dollars and showed a need for 19 new staff positions.

The facts are that the price has been whittled way down to the bare bones in order to make it more palatable to the voters.

We have planned a highly efficient building that will only need one new staff member in the jail and two in the courthouse for increased security. The total amount the county is asking voters to bond for is $43.5 million dollars.

The proposal is efficient in that inmates can be simply moved in and out of the courthouse through a secure elevator and corridor that does not force the public to be in close proximity to the inmates such as they are now as people with limited mobility share the entrance and elevator in the current courthouse with deputies and inmates.

It allows use of the existing beautiful iconic courthouse.

Some have said to tear it down. A non-starter for me.

Some have said to turn it in to a museum. The museum issue is a nice thought, if you do not mind taxes being raised to maintain the old courthouse as a museum.

This project that is planned makes the justice center a safe and secure environment and creates the space to take Johnson County forward for years to come. It allows us to stop renting space which is similar to renting an apartment and actually buy a project just as many people buy houses and have equity to show where the hard earned dollars goes.

No more shipping more than $1 million dollars annually out of the county.

This allows us to keep the inmates, staff with compassion and stop moving them out of county away from their families, friends and attorneys.

It allows us to create a safe environment for the staff working where people come to deal with issues such as divorce and child custody that can be very heated and divisive.

It allows us to make the courthouse a safe and secure environment where our jurors come to serve in their civic capacity.